Fic: Full Circle – Part 2

Title: Full Circle – Part 2
Rating: R (for one curse word)
Same disclaimers as before.

London, June

He arrives in London a week behind her. His sources tell her she’s going by Summer this time. Her name choices are getting a little obvious to him. If she wanted to hide, she could have picked something a little more… original, he thinks. Still, ‘s better than tryin’ to track down someone named ‘Anne’ in bleedin’ England. Only worse name woulda been ‘Elizabeth’ or ‘Diana.’

This time he arrives at her flat and settles down to wait on the front step. From what he’s heard, she’s been busy on the journey to London. While it doesn’t seem she goes patrolling like she had in Sunnydale, she certainly hasn’t been shy about slaying the demons that somehow cross her path. He’s only surprised that the Council hasn’t caught wind of her yet. Seems they are still trying to track her down in the good ole U. S. of A.

“Stupid gits,” he mutters to himself. “Don’t know when to try new tricks.”

Still, it’s good to be back in London. Once he takes care of this little matter, he’ll go look up some old mates. See what hell they can raise.

But what do you mean by ‘take care of,’ the voice in his head taunted him.
That soddin’ voice hasn’t been quiet since Philadelphia and that… that… kiss. He couldn’t quiet the memory of that kiss. At first he’d tried to convince himself that it had been a natural reaction to comforting a pretty girl. And she was pretty, he’d give her that. All soft and petite and fit and… Then the voice kicks in. Don’t fool yourself. You’ve been wonderin’ what it’d be like to shag a Slayer. Kissin’s just the first step. Face it. You’re curious. And she’s a prime piece, she is. What could be… And so it goes.On and on and on, ‘til he’s nearly mad with it.

After a while, it starts to sound plausible. Maybe that’s what Dru had meant. He doesn’t want to kill the Slayer, he wants to shag her, get a taste of what it is that had Angelus all in knots and obsessed before he got sucked into hell. He sucks the smoke into his lungs. Yeah. Get her out of his system with a good, long fuck and then… then… There his imagination stops. He’s not sure what he’ll do after. He supposes he should kill her after, but for some reason the desire just isn’t there. The thought of it just doesn’t thrill him as it used to.

Lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t sense her approach until she’s standing on the sidewalk in front of him and saying his name.

“Spike.” His name hangs limp in the air. There’s nothing behind it – no fear, no disdain, nothing. It throws him. He rises from his perch on the step and joins her on the sidewalk. Her eyes never leave his face.

“Slayer.”

She doesn’t say anything. She just gives him one more inscrutable look and mounts the steps. She pulls out the key to the door. She’s just going to leave him here on the sidewalk? He sprints up the steps, the importunate suitor. He touches her arm.

“Buffy,” he says insistently.

She looks at his hand on her arm, then raises her eyes to his. The coldness he sees there startles him. He yanks his hand back.

“I… Buffy…” He stumbles over his words like the rawest of schoolboys.

“My name isn’t Buffy.”

“Summer then… What…? “

“You need to leave. I have a new life now. What passed as life for me before doesn’t fit anymore. You need to leave.” Her voice is flat, almost mechanical.

He peers into her face a little closer, tries to sense her heartbeat, catch her scent. It’s all still there – her heart beating a little stronger than most humans’, her scent still uniquely her own though she tried to disguise it with a fragrance that doesn’t fit her. It’s too generic, not enough citrus and spice to it.

“What’s happened to you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I need to go inside now. They will be out soon.”

“They? Who? Talk to me, Buffy! Tell me what’s going on. Why are you like … this?” He risks laying a hand on her again, tries to get her to open up.

She blinks solemnly and says nothing. She shakes him off and calmly opens the door. She steps inside.

“You need to go, now.”

And then he’s standing on the top step staring at the brass knocker on the green door. He shakes himself. Something was seriously wrong and he wasn’t leaving until he sussed it out. He walked down the steps and headed towards Cheapside. There was a demon there who knew things, could see the undercurrents and tell you what you needed to know. For a price of course, always for a price, but the information was consistently good.

And off to another doctor’s appointment… the rest later…

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/150888.html